Chapter 12 Gwen #2
“Yeah, baby. I am.”
“I think I need a few minutes to process that.” I felt a bit overwhelmed.
“I can give that to you. Enjoy the ride. Just rest your head on my shoulder and let me take you home.”
“My apartment?”
“No. Our home. The one I want to share with you.”
My head was spinning. Everything seemed to be accelerating at a pace I didn’t know I could keep up with. I’d gone from barely knowing Cin to feeling like he was my soulmate.
His mouth brushed mine before he told me to get comfortable.
Oddly enough, I didn’t find it hard to do.
My bottom rested on the seat between his powerful thighs as my legs circled his waist and my ankles crossed behind him.
My arms dropped from his face to slide beneath the supple leather of his cut and clasp at his back.
Cin groaned.
“You all right, big guy?”
“If you call battling my stiff dick this whole ride, then yeah, I’m fucking fantastic, baby.”
I giggled. “You’ll be inside me again soon.”
“Hell yeah, I will. Buried so fucking deep.” He nuzzled the side of my face before starting the engine and leaving the cemetery.
I never caught the name. Maybe I was too distracted by Cin’s warmth and that bulge pressing close to my core with every bump in the road.
When we arrived at Deathrock Cemetery and Cin parked his bike, I frowned. “You want forever with me in a graveyard. That’s creepy.”
A dark chuckle followed. “No, but that’s sort of poetic, isn’t it?”
“Not if you’re planning to kill me,” I deadpanned.
“Babe, sometimes you’re dramatic.”
No shit.
“I want to live in the clubhouse with you. At least for now. We can figure out what comes next together.”
I loved the sound of that.
He took my hand and led me toward the cemetery gates. I didn’t know what he had planned, but he led me up the hill and toward Becka’s grave.
When we stopped, I stared down at the fresh headstone. It only arrived yesterday. I hadn’t seen it yet.
Tears stung my eyes as I held them back. “I miss her.”
“I know you do. You talk about her in your sleep.”
I did? “Funny how emotions and experiences manifest in our dreams.”
“I brought you here to tell you that Max is dead. He’ll never harm you ever again.”
I suspected it, but the confirmation still shocked me. “How?”
“Not gonna give you details to obsess over because that isn’t your burden, baby. Just know that he suffered before the end. He shouted his apology to you until I took his tongue.”
I shivered. “And Ethan?”
“He got justice for his sister.”
I’d have to leave it at that. Cin knew me well. I didn’t need to know all the specifics. I didn’t want Max living in my dreams or nightmares.
“Thank you.”
“For killing a man?” He joked.
“For seeking justice and vengeance in my name.”
“Goddamn, that just made me hard again.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” He lifted my chin until our eyes locked. “There are some things you need to know about me before you agree to be my ol’ lady. Secrets few have the honor or trust to hear.”
“Sounds a bit intense.”
“It is. Will you let me show you?”
“Okay.”
“Think of a memory with Becka. If you feel like crying, don’t hold back. Never hide your emotions from me. I can handle them.”
Odd, but also sweet.
I closed my eyes and thought of my sister. How much I wished we had a chance to finish the bucket list we made. But we had memories. Beautiful moments we shared that would live in my heart forever.
One memory surfaced when she took me for ice cream and to the park.
I was still in high school then. Life was simpler.
She sat with me for hours on the swings after dark, and we talked about school, boys, and what I wanted for my future.
Her patience, wisdom, and comfort had meant everything to me.
Becka listened and cared. The night ended with a visit to a planetarium where we pointed out constellations and watched a laser show in the domed theater.
I thought I would cry. I didn’t.
Joy filled my chest and expanded my lungs. Gratitude for the years I had with her. So many emotions smashed together inside me, but I embraced them all.
When I turned to Cin, his eyes were glowing. Just like the night we met as I sat beside Becka’s grave. The iridescent green reminded me of a predatory animal. Lethal. A killer.
I knew he was capable. Had learned that very thing a few moments ago. But as I stared, I realized he was focusing on the grave. “You feed off the dead.” The words tumbled from my lips in surprise.
It wasn’t a question.
“Well, you got it backward. Mostly it’s the living.”
I swallowed so loudly that the whole cemetery could have heard me had it been filled with anyone actually breathing air.
“Who? What are you?”
Part of me wondered if he was some supernatural being, like a vampire or a shifter. I certainly read about enough of them in my spicy romance books. Cin mostly visited me at night. I rarely saw him during the day, and those times were brief.
“Someone with a connection to nature. With gifts that help to protect the forest and cemetery.”
“And traveling by headstones?”
“A gift to the members of my club.”
“I don’t know what to say.” I really didn’t.
“Do you believe me?”
Searching his glowing eyes, I realized I did. My heart understood what my mind had trouble grasping. Cin wasn’t fully human. A little part of him was a creature.
Or maybe a god.
“I do.”
His eyes continued to glow as he slid an arm around my waist and tugged my body flush with his. “You continue to please me.”
“And make you hard,” I gasped as he rolled his hips and pressed his erection against me. “Why do we always seem to meet at night?”
“I prefer the night, and it’s Omen’s domain. For him, I chose that time to help guard the cemetery and surrounding property. It belongs to the club.”
“And the symbol on your neck?”
“A branding and mark of my allegiance.”
“One more question. Okay, maybe three more.”
Cin’s mouth stretched into a wide smile. “Ask.”
“What’s your favorite color?”
A light laugh rumbled up his chest. “Blue. The color of your eyes.”
“Favorite food?”
“Anything spicy.”
I took a deep breath, hoping he answered the one I wanted to know the most. “Your real name?”
“Liam Strong.”
Good name. It fit him.
“Wait. Last one. What hobbies do you like in your free time?”
He snorted. “I’m a biker. We don’t have free time.”
“Cin.”
“My club. Riding my bike. You.”
“Damn good hobbies.”
“I agree.” He grasped my chin, staring into my eyes. “Is that a yes, baby?”
“Being your ol’ lady? I think I was born to be.”
The only thing left to do was kiss him.
So, I did.